Foveon

SAMSUNG has given its official reaction to reports that it is poised to 'spin-off its 'loss-making' camera business into a separate company.

A Reuters report, published on 6 November, stated that Samsung is to set up a new company called Samsung Digital Imaging,

The article added: 'Price competition with the better-known Japanese camera makers such as Sony Corp and Canon Inc, and poor sales prospects amid the global downturn, have weighed on Samsung Techwin's camera business, which is also saddled with heavy research and marketing expenses.'

In a follow-up statement, Samsung UK confirmed the planned 'reorganisation' of its digital camera business.

The statement went on to add.'In the UK, digital cameras will form part of Samsung's new digital imaging division along with other products such as camcorders, from January 2009, and will be headed by Robert King, currently director of Samsung's camera division.'

Samsung claims to hold the number one position in the UK camera market in terms of number of cameras sold for the year to Sept 2008.

It is aiming for a 20% slice of the global market by 2012

Opera stars strip for charity

ROYAL Opera House performers and staff have stripped off for a fundraising calendar, photographed by one of their own singers.

Neil Gillespie, who is a member of the Royal Opera House Chorus, shot the pictures to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Thewinners of a limited-edition Lavazza calendar featuring images byfamed photographer Annie Leibovitz have been named, following a competition featured in AP'sl November issue. Congratulations to Donald Hawkins from Cheltenham, B Johnson from Southampton, Anne Noble from Thornton Heath, Dave Syer from Bishops Stortford, Mike Hopkins from New Maiden, EA Hartley fromHolmesChapelJames Baird from Glasgow, Chris Ingram from Cannock, MW Bell from Saltburn-by-the-sea and Mark Kerr from Yately.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II event

Photo enthusiasts will be able to'touch and try'Canon's new E0S5DMarkllataspecialevent taking place at Park Cameras store in Burgess Hill, West Sussex, on 3 December. The event will include talks held in conjunction with the store's School of Photography. Canon experts will be on hand to answers questions about the EOS 5D Mark II and EOS 50D. For detai I s visit www.pa rkcameras. com/training.

Camera kit raises £421,000

An online auction of 13,000 Vivitar cameras and camcorders raised £421,000. The gear was part of the assets of Vivitar UK, which collapsed afterthefirm's European base ceased trading. Vivitar's European offices closed earlier this yearwith the lossof 26 staff-including 14 in the UK.

Olympus photo project

More thanlOO photographers have joined forces for an exhibition hosted by the Olympus Photo Safari Group. The show takes place at the View from the Top gallery, Top Floor, Waterstone's 1-5 Bridlesmith Gate, Nottingham NG12GR. Tel.07951997528.

Rollei launches new flagship camera

SEVEN new Rollei-badged digital compact cameras have hit the high street, headed up by a 10-million-pixel model boasting a 3in 'touch-control' screen.

This flagship model, the XS-10 inTOUCH, is due out this month priced £139.99.

The lens delivers the 35mm viewing angle equivalent of a 35.5-106.5mm zoom. The Bin monitor carries a resolution of 230,000 pixels.

The 23 shooing modes include night shot and sport.

The new range includes two new 8MP cameras: the Compactline 80 (£59.99) and X-8 Compact (£69.99). Each features smile, face and shake detection.

The line-up will also feature an 'all-action' compact camera called the X-8 Sports, an 8MP camera claimed to be 'crash proof, frost proof and waterproof' The X-8 Sports will retail at £149.99.

Rollet compact cameras are now distributed in the UK by Sonic (UK) Ltd.

Tel 020 8993 4488

Detective camera could fetch '£65k'

A RARE 1892'Book-Camera' could fetch as much as €80,000 when it goes on sale at an auction on 30 November.

'No lady or gentleman need have any fear that this parcel will attract attention as a camera, for it certainly looks much unlike a camera as anything can and it is a very striking counterfeit of parcel of three bona-fide books,' said a spokesman for the Westlicht Photographica auction in Vienna, Austria.

Made by American firm Scovill & Adams, the camera used 5x4in dry plates.

The auction also stars a Leica M4 specially made for the US military. Described as in 'almost mint condition', it comes with a 50mm f/2 lens and is expected to fetch €9-€10.000

Classics also include a Leica M4-2 'Safari Prototype', valued at €14-16000 and a Leica IIIG, made for the Swedish army (€18-€20,000).

For details of how to make a bid from the UK, visit www. westlicht-aucuon.com.

Canon and Nikon to Increase' share

CANON and Nikon are likely to see an increase in market share as consumers increasingly switch from compact cameras to digital SLRs, according to an InfoTrends survey.

Canon was the top digital camera brand among all digital camera owners last year, states the survey.

InfoTrends adds that Canon has been the leading brand among 'hobbyists' since 2004 InfoTrends' director Mette Enksen added: 'This is important for Canon because it will have helped secure sales of entry-level digital SLR cameras to brand-loyal hobbyists.'

He predicted that Canon and Nikon will probably see an increase in share among hobbyists 'as the proportion of DSLR owners increases'.

Sports stars' photos net thousands

A self-portrait of Bond movie actor Sébastien Foucan doing a one-armed handstand sold for £1,000 at a fund-raising charity auction in central London.

The Frenchman's photo was the star lot in the auction, which raised thousands of pounds for Right To Play, a charity that helps children play sport in deprived parts of the world

Sébastien Foucan is credited as the founder of 'free running', and has appeared in films such as Casim Royale, where he played the character being chased by Bond actor Daniel Craig in the opening sequence.

Foucan was one of a handful of athletes, who included British tennis player Andy Murray, who were kitted out with a Nikon digital SLR to record the lives of sportsmen and women away from the arena.

The athletes captured their images on either a Nikon D40x or D60 camera.

Speaking after the auction, Foucan told AP that he is a keen photographer and loves the creative freedom it gives him, alongside his other passion, painting.

He said that he normally uses a Nikon D50 digital SLR and captured the self-portrait in a French forest using the camera's self-timer, setting aperture and shutter speed manually.

A PHOTOGRAPHY enthusiast from Dorset has achieved his lifetime's dream of pursuing photography professionally, after 60 years as an amateur

Retired design engineer Graham Young, 70, was urged to take up professional commissions after impressing bosses of a Bournemouth hotel with his photos. Graham (pictured), a

Kodak Christmas

Kodak has launched a Christmas Photo Card service as part of its online gallery facility. The Kodak Gallery Designer Boutique features hundreds of designs that can be added to photos and personalised messages. Cards and invitations start at 29p each. For details visit www.kodakgallery.co.uk.

Cameras buck trend

Sales of Canon cameras rose 18.6 billion yen in the third quarter of 2008, though the firm's total sales fell 64.8 billion yen. Canon blamed a 44.9 billion yen fall in overall operating profit on a rise in raw material prices, the economic slump and appreciation of the yen against the US dollar, compared to the same period last year.

Photo enthusiast 'drowned'

An amateur photographer has drowned while pursuing his fascination for birds, according to a report in 'The Times of India'. Robin Ranjan, 21, drowned after losing his balance while standing on a tree trunk at Sukhna Lake in Chandigarh, India. Robin's friend Yamman Kumar jumped into the lake to try to save him.

member of Parkstone Camera Club in Poole, has now been hired to photograph a new Folio hotel in Manchester.

Farmer wins wildlife plaudits

A WELSH farmer has been named Volunteer of the Year for the consistently high standard of photographs he has submitted to the Woodland Trust image library.

Richard Becker, 45, from Llanidloes in Powys, was nominated by the trust's photo library team, who said: 'He sends in his amazing images regularly, and we use them frequently

'Richard has made a huge contribution to the way the Woodland Trust looks in its website, its literature, and

UK amateur photographer Tony Hunter has scooped second place in the amateur category of this year's Black and White Spider Awards (see photo above).

Graham's daughter said her father was, at first, hesitant to shoot images in a professional capacity.

But hotel boss Matthew Welbourn later hailed them as 'outstanding'.

'I gave my friends from the camera club a tour of the hotel to see my photos and they also thought they were great,' said Graham, who uses a Panasonic Lumix DMC-LIO digital SLR.

AP's weekly round-up of club news from all over Britain

in magazines and other publications.'

The Woodland Trust is a woodland conservation charity.

Richard, who uses a Canon EOS 5D, said:'I've always been interested in wildlife and wanted other people to be as excited about it as I was. I found that taking photographs was one way to show them what's out there.'

First place went to Salih Guler from Turkey, while Maleonn Ma from China won the professional category.

Hundreds of photographers took part in the competition.

Tovil Camera Club

Kingsbridge & District Camera Club

Brighton and Hove Camera Club

North Cheshire

Photographic

Society

This year Tovil Camera Club celebrates its 50th anniversary. The club, which tells us it is on the lookout for new members, meets on Wednesday evenings at the Working Mens Club, Old Tovil Road, Maidstone, Kent. Tel: 01634 363 617.

AP urged readers to break away from the conventional rules of composition to avoid becoming stuck in a rut. However, in a feature called 'Unusual Viewpoint', AP's 26 November 1930 issue also warned: 'In some cases this departure from the accepted form is attended with success; but on other occasions mere f reakishness is the result.' So, AP's RW Hepworth advised photographers to adopt a 'medium course' with 'occasional break-away into the realms of experiment'. To help illustrate that it sometimes pays to stray from the norm, AP showed a photograph shot through an elephant's legs, a worm's-eye view of a horse race and an aerial shot of window cleaners scaling a tall building.